Over 100 Arrested After Columbia Univ. President Calls NYPD to Clear Pro-Palestine Student Protest

[Uncle Joe]

Columbia University President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik on Thursday called on New York police to forcibly clear a student occupation on the lawn of the school, which had been dubbed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, resulting in over 100 arrests. The protesters were demanding the Ivy League school divest from firms and institutions that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but Shafik ordered the raid a day after being questioned on Capitol Hill about ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campus. The move caused outrage among students and many faculty, who decried it as censorship and a violation of academic freedom. The renowned professor and presidential candidate Cornel West, chair of the Columbia-affiliated Union Theological Seminary, joined students Thursday in solidarity with their protest and told Democracy Now! they "represent the best … of the human spirit," and lauded them for "fighting in the face of domination and occupation and subjugation, and doing it with tremendous determination."

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.

[getagrip_already]

1. Most werent columbia students.....

Whether they were students anywhere hasn't been released. But columbia said they weren't students.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Would that be the same person at Columbia

that told police, the protest against genocide in Gaza was "a clear and present danger?"

If we don't have a count, how can you say "most?"

[getagrip_already]

3. It wasnt the protest that was a danger

It was the harassment and assault of students and faculty. Specifically Jewish students and faculty.

They were unsafe.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Has anyone with the protests been arrested or charged for assault against other students or faculty? n/t

[getagrip_already]

5. So your coteria is battery?

People felt unsafe and intimidated. They were being harassed for their religion.

That is unacceptable.

It may not have broken a law, but it broke boundaries of decencies and acceptable behavior.

And yes, it created a public safety issue. It was one rock away from serious injury at the level of emotion displayed.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Should the Civil Rights protests not have taken place because of

"people felt unsafe or intimidated?"

Should we put an addendum to the 1st Amendment making it subject to how people feel about an issue or protest?

[getagrip_already]

7. There are limits to civil disobediance and protest

I fully support both. I even support Palestinian causes.

But I don't support standing inches in front of someone, blocking their way, calling them an ugly jew, and telling them you are going to rape and kill them for what they did to gaza.

That is what your peaceful protestors were doing at columbia.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Was anyone tied to the protests arrested or charged with violating any other student or faculty's

civil rights?